KARACHI, Nov 29: An appellate bench of the Sindh High Court set aside on Thursday the STA conviction of an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
The bench, comprising Justice Ghulam Nabi Soomro and Justice Ataur Rahman, passed the order in an appeal filed by the accused, Mohammed Akram, who had challenged his three-year jail sentence awarded by a Suppression of Terrorist Activities Court (STA) on a charge of possessing illicit weapons.
The bench was of the view that the trial court had misread the evidence.
The counsel for the appellant contended that police had showed that arms and ammunition were recovered in daytime (ie 12:30pm) but police did not produce any witness from the area. The prosecution reply before the court was that recovery had taken place at night.
Political victimization was the cause of his implication in the case, he contended.
On Sept 17, the STA Court Karachi Central had awarded three years’ rigorous imprisonment to the accused under section 13 (e) of the Arms Ordinance, 1965.
According to the prosecution, on October 23, 1999 the Liaqatabad police had arrested the accused, Mohammed Akram, and on a lead given by him police had allegedly recovered a large quantity of weapons from a stormwater drain near Masjid-i-Bahar in Liaqatabad.
According to the prosecution, during interrogation, he disclosed that Wahab Bandhani, Rafeeq, Ayub Langra, Asif and Rehan Peeli Kothiwala were his accomplices.
DISMISSED: The same bench dismissed a criminal revision application of Allah Dino Dahri, executive engineer communication in Works Department, seeking quashment of proceeding of a reference regarding “living beyond his known means” pending trial in the accountability court-V Karachi.
The applicant approached the Sindh High Court as Judge Mohammed Aziz Memon of the AC-V had, on Oct 25, dismissed his acquittal application under section 265-K of PPC.
